


Being A Leader

by orphan_account



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, but really whats new there, family talks, its not Tcest if i see any imma scream they're SIBLINGS, leo centric, no beta we die like men, not me, splinters like bearly in this butttt, who needs sleep when this fandom needs more fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:27:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27031171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: My take on how Leo deals with becoming leader.
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 114





	Being A Leader

“So as my first order as leader- what can we change the name to? Mad Dogs just seems so last year. What about ‘Leo and the Ninja Mutant Teens’. Oh! Or maybe-”

“Leo.”

“Okay okay- Mikey didn’t like that one. How about ‘The Leo’s’. It's short sweet and-”

“LEO!” 

Leo stopped, a smirk set on his face as he swaggered into the lair with false confidence. Donnie stormed in right behind him.

“Eye roll. How many times have I said that if we are going to change the name, it should be ‘Donatello the great and’-”

“We are not changing the team name.” Raph interrupted. “Mad Dogs once, Mad Dogs for life.”

“Ugh, fine,” Donnie conceded, mumbling as he sulked past Leanardo to his lab. “But if we were…”

“That goes for you too Leo.”

“I was kidding!” And to his credit, he was. He had been. Maybe? Probably.

Raph looked… well unconvinced. That was fair. Leo wasn’t sure he was convinced of... well anything at the moment. Other than the general unease that calling himself the leader elicited. It had been a week and it hadn’t gotten easier. Or existent really. There were a lot of other things to focus on (thankfully).

But the city was almost back to normal, somehow. That was one big distraction out of the way. There was something to be said about New York's ability to just… pretend nothing weird was happening and go back to normal. Maybe whatever memory magic the people were put under helped. That would make sense. 

They were less back to normal, and that was his responsibility now. He was the leader now.

“Raph, do you know what Donnie’s been working on recently? He’s been locking himself up in his lab a bunch. Like, more than usual.” 

Raph shrugged, moving towards the couch. “Something sciency.”

“You mean his Satellite Locator thingy?” Mikey interrupted from the kitchen.

Both Leo and Raph stared at him.

“What? Some of us listen when he goes on his rants.”

“Coooool… so… what does it do?”

“Oh, I have no idea. I zoned out halfway through his ‘this is what inspired me’ bit.”

Leo supposed that that was fair- if not disappointing. When the resident genius got going it was next to impossible to stop him, or really listen through all of his science lingo without your eyes glazing over. Mikey had always been particularly bad at listening through the rants (outside of hyper fixations of course). Raph was better at that than both of them, or at least better at getting the important points down.

“If you're so curious, why don’t you go check it out our oh so glorious leader.”

Leo takes a moment to wonder if Raph was being sarcastic with the nickname; resentful maybe. He shook off the thought. It would come back later, but not now.

“Sadly your glorious leader-” Leo pushes one hand against his chest in a dramatically mournful pose- “requires his beauty sleep. Wake me up for dinner Mikey!”

He barely waits for the cheerful ‘will do’ from the kitchen before he’s up leaping up to his room. Maybe to sleep. More likely to stare at the back of his sleep mask until time had no meaning.

Yeah, that sounded about right.

Mikey was done cooking some time between five minutes and two hours later. Donnie could probably tell him, or a clock could. But neither were at the table or in his direct eye line so who could really say.

“Donnie has been in his lab an awfull long time.” Raph started, looking back at the suspiciously closed door.

“That's what I’ve been saying!” Leo exclaimed, only a tiny bit exasperated.

“Yeah, he's not even coming out for my world-famous pizza! I made it with extra love and everything!”

There was no movement.

“Ah! He didn’t even come out to say that love has no effect on taste!” Mikey ran over to Raph, shaking him by the shoulders. “Somethings wrong! You gotta go get him!”

“Settle down.” Raph pushed Mikey away, keeping his arm straight out as Mikey tried to propel closer. “We’ve been in the lair the whole time. Nothing could've gotten past me. He probably just got distracted with a new project or something.”

“Yeah, the only thing that could’ve hurt Donnie is himself.” Leo sort of hoped they took it as a joke because it was ridiculous right? Sure sometimes his experiments went wrong but… And sure he forgot to come out for days at a time sometimes but… “I’ll go and get him.”

Raph was too busy placating Mikey to respond, which was fine. Mikey did spare an ‘if-he-kills-you-for-breaking-something-I'll-plan-your-funeral’ look. Not too worried then. That was comforting. Leo grabbed Donnie a plate just in case he refused to leave his lab again. 

Donnies lab fluctuated between nearly spotless and an absolute dumpster fire on a seemingly daily basis. Mikey was convinced that he made a personal cleaning bot that he wouldn’t tell them about, but no one was willing to push him on that. Not after the whole S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. incident. 

The lab wasn’t on fire yet- which was good. There wasn’t any blood either- double good. Leo was about to call it triple good, but then he heard Donnie’s mad scientist laugh. Take back one of those goods then. 

Donnie was crouched over his lab table, working on some… sciency looking thing. The sparking wires were the only light in the dim space. But he was unharmed as far as Leo could tell; he didn't accidentally chop off a finger or cut his shell open or anything.

“Hey De?”

Donnie was unresponsive aside from the laugh still cackling from his throat. They were definitely going to have to have a talk about that laugh. It was just creepy. The wires sparked again, lighting the dim space.

“Hey Donnie-” Wait. Leo had a better idea. 

Twirling the pizza in one hand, he slowly snuck up behind Donnie. If he was a good leader, he might take note of how easy it was to sneak up behind him when he was in the zone. Worryingly easy. It would be so easy to just…

Splat.

The pizza slammed into the resident mad scientists face midway through his laugh. Leo could feel the shit-eating grin growing on his face. That move hadn’t worked on Donnie for a while. 

“LEONARDO!”

Oh; he might have to take Mikey up on those funeral arrangements. Can he put ‘worth it’ on his tombstone? Or maybe ‘don’t look so blue’. Yeah, that was a good one.

Wait. Not the time for that. Time for running.

Well, on the upside he did get Donnie outside of his lab. A very angry, vengeful Donnie, but honestly Donnie was almost always angry or vengeful so you really couldn’t tell the difference. 

“Raph hide me!” Leo made a run for it, diving behind his older brother.

“Oh no. You got yourself into this one.” Oh, that's right, it's not Raph’s job to clean up his messes anymore. It's his. Raph pulled him out from behind him, setting him directly in the way of Donnie's wrath.

If you judged it purely by Mikey's facial expression, their brother had been possessed by a demon. If you judged by Leo’s expression, he was a clown possessed by a demon. No wait, Mikey just saw the pizza smeared across his face. The horror intensified.

“My pizza!” Mikey cried, stumbling out of the kitchen. “Dee! How could you!”

“You think I- oh no, to the contrary my dear brother. It was-”

“How could you Donnie!” Leo exclaimed, false tears gathering in his eyes. “Mikey worked on that pizza all day!”

Donnie looked at Mikey like he was an idiot, all semblance of demonic anger simmering into annoyance. “No. For one, we’ve only been back for an hour so literally no.” Oh, that answered that question. “And furthermore it was obviously-”

“I would just like to pass a vote that Donnie gives up pizza rights- seeing as he clearly doesn’t appreciate it enough.” Leo slid in, interrupting again.

Oh yeah. Donnie was about to pop. Just one more push maybe? “No it was obviously L-”

“Seconded.” Mikey chimed in.

“Oh. Oh! OH! I see how it is. You- dear brother- are going to feel the anger of a thousand-”

“Enough.” Raph interrupted, cutting Donnie’s threat off. “Leos the one who wasted the piece. Not Donnie.” The ‘I-told-you-so’ look on Donnie’s face was almost audible. So was the abject horror on Mikeys.

“Betrayed by my own brother! How could you!” Oh, the abject horror was in his voice too. 

“Relax-” Leo said, sliding away from Raph like he wasn’t just trying to hide behind him- “We got plenty of pizza! And besides, I got him out of his lab didn’t I? I think that calls for a celebration.”

“All in favor of Leo giving up rights to the pizza!” Donnie called, completely ignoring the turtle in question.

“Seconded.” Mikey chimed in. Oh wow yeah it was less fun being on the receiving end of that glare. 

“Thirded.” Raph called. “Or.. thirdly? Whatever. I agree!”

Leo gasped dramatically, stumbling back. “Betrayed by my own brothers? I can’t believe this. How do you guys sleep at night!”

“Easily.” Donnie deadpanned, grabbing a slice of pizza from the table. 

Leo didn’t sit back down. Mikey had taken to hissing at him anytime he got too close to the pizza- which really translated to anywhere near the table. Raph was giving him that ‘you-made-this-bed, now-lie-in-it’ face, which Leo was sure was in no way related to the fact that he resented him for becoming the leader. Definitely not. 

“Fine fine.” Leo finally conceded, backing up. “I can see when I’m not appreciated.” Make it funny funny man. No one wants to see you being a downer. “But I’ll be back for the pizza later! Mark my words”

Donnie shooed him away without looking up, eating the pizza off his face. Mikey was talking about holding a funeral. What would be on that tombstone? ‘Pizza out’ maybe? Oh that was a good one. He should’ve said it. As it was, he was already almost back to his room. Well, whatever. You can’t rush perfection sometimes. You just have to let the perfect joke come to you.

His room was as messy as it was earlier, a fact Leo refused to focus on. Maybe if he ignored it long enough, it would just sort of… fix itself. It hadn’t yet, but maybe tomorrow…

Leo did forget to be back for pizza later as it turned out, not that he was caught up doing anything that important. Mostly just thinking. Fun fact, did you know you can literally stay up all night thinking and not really get anywhere? Just kind of… run around in circles? Yeah…

It was not his favorite discovery. Maybe Donnie would be interested (in the name of science and all), but Leo had the feeling that he was already well aware.

Leo only got up once he heard Mikey’s voice. He was loud- and presumably in the kitchen from the banging of pots. Breakfast then? He was up for that.

As soon as Leo stepped into the kitchen, Mikey pointed his spatula at him. Oh, he was still mad. How was that spatula so threatening? Leo slowly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. 

“No.”

“I’m… sorry?”

“You have been convicted of pizza crimes and- therefore- have NO space in this kitchen until we hold a proper funeral for Sir Pizzaton the brave.”

“Sir… Pizzaton?” He really hadn’t slept enough for this. The spatula glinted threateningly as Mikey shoved it closer to him. “Okay okay! I’m going!”

Mikey watched him back up, slowly lowering the spatula. So no kitchen then? That was fine. He had to beat Donnie's record on the Pacman machine anyway (though he swears Donnie must have hacked it or something. It was impossible to get so high).

Leo gave up on that after a while. Beating Donnie's record was probably impossible unless he learned to hack the machine. He was starting to get a headache anyway. The others were probably up, right? There had to be something interesting going on.

The lair was quiet for what Leo assumed was midday (again- no clocks, no Donnie). The TV was on with its ever-present droll in the background, but there wasn’t talking: no skateboard wheels or clanging pots or Raph swooning over cat videos. 

Quiet. Empty. Well, empty aside from Splinter of course. But he seemed… preoccupied. 

“Martha you are too good for him- go and find yourself a better man!!”

Yeahhh so Leo decided to just leave that one alone. If the new episode of Summer Lover was out, any attempt to talk to Splinter would just trigger a rant about how much of a jerk Steve Summers was offset. Yeah, no need for that. 

Leo checked to make sure his brother's weapons were gone too before doing a little fist pump. No one was guarding the kitchen then. Sick. There probably wouldn’t be pizza in the fridge, but anything edible would really do. He was starting to regret giving up on dinner so easily the night before. 

The fridge was nearly empty- as it usually was- aside from some (nearly) forgotten leftovers shoved to the back. Leo did a fist pump before scarfing it down, burping in satisfaction. 

There was something blue on the table. That in itself was fairly strange. His brothers tended to stick to their own colors- it made fights over who owned what much easier. In anycase, it wasn’t his and it was blue; a blue bracelet

“Well, finders keepers.” It was probably Mikeys; he had a propensity to collect random things whenever they went topside. The same Mikey who had ‘borrowed’ his Jupiter Jim figurine a week ago and never gave it back. He slapped the bracelet on his wrist where he knew Mikey would see it. “Now, to wait.”

What next. Maybe he could skateboard? Na. That was definitely more of a brother activity. The arcade room was already boring- not even Donkey Kong felt all too appealing at the moment. Jupiter Jim reruns? God why was it so hard to have a halfway appealing thought!

Maybe some fresh air then; a run around the city if he was up to it. Maybe if he (completely coincidentally) saw his brothers he could say hello. Nicely ask why they abandoned him. 

No, they didn’t abandon him. He just didn't hear them… or something like that. Leo shook the thought, grabbing his sword before readying to portal. 

And, portal!

Portal.

… Portal?

“Come on. Come on!”

Nope. Nothing. Leo couldn’t even feel his skin getting all tingly and glowy. He just felt… empty.

“Great.” Just another reason for him not to be leader really- aside from the obvious not-being-Raph bit. 

He would have to go out the normal way to (look for his brothers) take a walk then. It was a very easy walk he had made millions of times, but just the act of walking so far just seemed terrible. And dredging though the water (and what he hoped was water)? It would just have been so much easier. It would be so easy if he could do the thing he was supposed to be able to do. But who was he kidding really? He had never been able to do anything he was supposed to do.

Come on Leonardo, not the time. It was never the time- never going to be the time- but he didn’t need to think about that either. It wasn’t the time. 

It wasn’t raining. It should have been cloudy at least- it would have been more fitting. But no, the sun was out in full annoying, pleasant force, glaring between the buildings and piercing right into Leo’s eyes. 

The people were annoyingly cheerful too- especially for all of them almost dying about a week earlier. Oh right, they didn’t remember that did they? Leo perched on the roof, glaring at a particularly chipper jogger as she crossed the street. How lucky.

Leo leaped from roof to roof, focusing more on the herd of pedestrians than where he was actually jumping. Some street artists had set up a tent on the street. He should be happy like that right? A group of high schoolers talking- laughing. He could be talking to his brothers right now- maybe laughing. A buff man charging through a crosswalk, pushing over a smiling businessman. That guy knew what was up.

Leo stopped, perching on the roof and looking at the man again. He was holding a bag now. Leo was almost sure that he wasn't holding it before. Great. The one person he sees that wasn’t annoyingly happy was a thief.

Well, maybe delivering justice to some deserving nobody would help fix his mood before he found his brothers. 

The thief ducked into an alley, which felt like the first thing to go right in Leo’s entire day. He let everything fall to the back of his mind, blending into the (limited) shadows on the roof. The man was looking around for something- someone probably. Then Leo would make this quick.

He jumped into the ally. There was a light thump as he landed, but he was already back in the shadows by the time the thief turned back around. The bag was open, and the man turned back around hurriedly to reach inside it. 

Leo kicked over a trash can, letting it bang against the concrete. The man jumped.

“Who’s there!” The man had a deep voice, and he was shaking something around over his head. A… gun? “Come out!”

Leo shifted back into the shadows, taking out his sword. “You could sword of say I got the drop on you.”

“What-”

Okay, yeah. That wasn’t his best one. 

The gun was on the floor in a single stroke. It clattered to the dumpster before the man turned back around. Leo was back in the shadows. 

“Whoever you are, you better come out.”

Fat chance. The thief was still clutching the bag and looking for something. Was it really the time for that? Just drop it already. 

Leo used his sword to trip the man, watching as he landed with a comical thump. He caught the bag with his sword, slipping back into the shadows. Easy in, easy out. His work was done here. 

“Give that back.” The man yelled, spinning around. “You don’t want to make us your enemy. Just give me the package and we might be able to forgive you.”

Leo was already perched up on a banister, looking through the bag. Oh... money. Heavy... money? 

“What seems to be the problem.” Leo was about to leave when another man stepped into the ally. Thin and sickly and… the foot lieutenant? He was holding a bag as well. 

“Don’t give me that. You double crossed us.”

“I’m sorry?”

The thief(?) moved over to pick up his gun, eyes not leaving the foot lieutenant. “I don’t know what ninja bullshit you’re pulling, but know we don’t appreciate being made a fool out of.”

That was interesting. Leo moved back into the shadows, remaining perched on the banister. It couldn’t hurt to learn more.

“Wait wait.” The foot lieutenant appeased, backing up slightly. “There has been a misunderstanding. Why don’t we both just take a step back.”

“Both?” The thief laughed, cocking his gun. “I think I’m perfectly fine where I am. You on the other hand…”

An origami ninja jumped from the foot lieutenant's hands, standing between him and the gun. “I think you should reconsider that.” Another ninja materialized next to him. “Now where is the blade.”

Blade?

The thief snorted, lowering his gun slightly. “Now you want to play dumb? You already took it.”

The foot lieutenant sighed deeply. “I just got here. How would I have taken it?”

“You ninjas are just so-”

The bracelet on Leo's wrist gave out an electric shock, the unexpected sensation making him yelp. Oh shell. 

Both pairs of eyes turned to him slowly, glinting in a menacing white light. 

“I see. We seem to have a rat among us.” 

“A turtle actually.” The foot luntenent smirked. “I believe we can agree that we have a common enemy then?”

“It appears so.”

Yeah Leo didn’t like the direction this was going at all. All thanks to Mikey's stupid bracelet. That could go on his tombstone maybe; ‘Mikey, your stupid bracelet killed me’. Ah… maybe keep working on that one. 

One of the ninjas was lunging- springing up the wall like a goat. One slice and it was confetti. Leo jumped down, landing in the pile of scrap with the bag slung across his shoulder. 

The thief was pointing his gun again, a bullet reflecting off his blade with a clang. The sound of paper feet on his left. More confetti. A bang on his right with another bullet. Two more origami ninjas coming out of the woodwork. Why didn’t he bring another sword?

“Four against one is a little unfair, don’t ya think?”

“So is attacking a man in a dark alley.” The thief countered. 

“Touche.” A feint from the left and right from the origami men. A bullet in front. Leo ducked, sweeping out one of the mens legs as the bullet hit the other. “How long are you going to hold onto that for.”

“It’s been less than five minutes!”

Leo made a dash at the Lieutenant, making him jump back before spinning on the thief. A swipe at the legs and he was down. Paper steps behind him, groping towards the bag. Leo darted away. Another slash. More confetti coated the ally. 

“There's only one of you-” The luntenent mumbled, making a wave of origami men- “Why are you being so difficult?”

“You know I get that a lot.” From Donnie mostly. “Maybe it’s just a talent.”

A shot behind his back. He tried to spin but the pain was too quick- shooting though his leg like a… well, like a bullet. A moment of still impact, then fire. Like a bullet on fire maybe. Like fire maybe. Like pain maybe. A choked scream. A shrill gasp. Pain. 

“Sadly you don’t have a talent for fighting on your own.” The foot lieutenant smirked. Leo fell to a knee, gasping. “You leave yourself wide open.”

“I’ll work on that.” The pain in his own voice made him cringe. He tried to stand up again, to move, but the thief kicked his leg and he spiraled back to the floor.

This would be a really good time for his portals to decide to work.

…

Yeah that seemed about right.

Leo tried to focus on his breathing. What did splinter tell him? In and out. So he was probably going to die- whatever. Millions of people die every day. It can't be that hard. In and out. The world would go on. In and out. His brothers would be fine. They would figure out whatever was going on and stop it like they always did. Without him. In and in- no. In and out. Raph could be a leader again like he always was. Maybe Mikey would have to start making more jokes to replace him. In and in and out. That's really all he did. It would be an easy fix. In and in and in and in and-

The thief(?) hoisted Leo up, stealing away the bag and discarding the turtle further into the alley. It hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt-

He would’ve been a bad leader. No matter how good he tried to be. No matter how he tried to pay attention and inspire and plan. In and in and in and in and- he was almost something there. Important. He could’ve been there for his brothers and mattered and helped in some tangible way. But no. He couldn’t even breathe. 

Not now. Not the time. 

They were talking. Not yelling. About to maybe. Just another push. The foot lieutenant was smirking like Raph when he had a good plan. A ‘I-got-them-right-where-I-want-them’ look. Donnie did that too, but things usually went straight to shit when Donnie made that look.

He would never see that look again. 

“-as an apology, I will be taking both the blade and the payment.”

“An apology! If I recall I’m the one who saved you!”

“Yes but you accused me- hurting my good honor- and I need repayment.”

“You have our sincere apologies but the payment is leaving with me-”

“You're going to let him get away with that.” Leo interrupted, looking at the foot lieutenant. “After he insulted you?”

“Stay out of this turtle!”

“No, he's right! You're lucky if I let you get away with an insult like that. Accusing the foot clan of petty thievery all because you got some-”

They were engrossed in their fight. That was good. In and in and out. The bubbling panic would have to wait. In and out. The bracelet on his wrist was cool. Cool metal. How hadn’t he noticed that before? Mikey didn’t like many metal things. In and out. There was another build up- a shock that pulsated for an instant. He did not yelp this time. It was Donnie's tech. In and out. Maybe he would come and get it eventually. Find confetti. Find the blood. Maybe he would be glad Leo was gone. In and in and out.

Leo tried to stand again. Quiet. Blend into the shadows. The second weight fell on his hurt leg he wanted to scream again. Agony. In and out. In and out. They were yelling now. Arguing. In and out. His sword wasn’t far. Walking stick maybe. He had to deal with the bleeding as well. In and out. One thing at a time. Don’t scream. Please don't scream. 

“Did you think we forgot about you.” The thief(?) was there, gun pointed at Leo's other leg before he was on his feet. “Stay down if you know what's good for you.”

“S-sheesh. You could try just asking nicely. Please and thank you go a long way.”

“Shut it, unless you want your last words to be some second rate quip.”

“I’ll have you know all my jokes are first rate.” 

“So is my aim.”

Okay, that was a good point. Leo shut up.

They went back to arguing with the small change of an origami ninja now holding Leo down. There was another shock, making Leo spasm for a moment. Definitely Donnie's tech. The hand on his shoulder pushed him down farther, agitating his leg. Pain pain pain pain pain. Leo whimpered. His hands shook, pressing down in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. 

Now it was a waiting game. Wait… waiting for what? Death maybe? His brothers weren’t coming. Raph resented him, Donnie was annoyed with him if the bracelet was anything to go by- shell, he had managed to annoy Mikey away too. They abandoned him in the lair this morning- why hadn’t he just taken the hint? Grabbed his stuff and moved somewhere he couldn’t annoy anyone. Where he wouldn’t steal Ralph's place or destroy Mikey's creation or force Donnie out of his lab.

Well, he wouldn’t be bothering them much longer.

The argument was almost over. The foot lieutenant looked a bit disappointed. The deal was going through probably. They were shaking hands. The thief(?) was stocking over to him, smiling. Was he always this tall? The origami ninja pushed Leo farther into the ground.

And then there was nothing holding him down anymore. 

Leo almost fell back when the lack of pressure first hit. There was a tickling sensation on his back… confetti? The man wasn’t in front of him either. Something else was. Something green and big and…

“Raph?”

There were two thumps on his sides too. Light familiar. 

“Took you guys long enough…” Leo choked, blood dripping out of his mouth with a cough. That probably wasn’t good.

He didn’t see his brother's exchange looks. He felt more than saw Raph bolt forward- lightning swinging into the foot lieutenant and planting him in the concrete. Mikey was already on the other man. There was a crack.

Donnie moved into Leo’s eye line before he could tell who made the sound. Oh if he didn't know how much he wanted to collapse before he certainly did now. He could feel his brain going numb (can that even happen? Is that bad?). Apparently it was bad cause Donnie looked worried. 

He flipped out a flashlight, shining it into both of Leo's eyes.

“No concussion.” The genius noted. Was his voice shaking? Were his hands? “Leon, you’ve been shot. This wasn’t supposed to happen- you were not supposed to be here right now.” A deep breath. “But I’m going to deal with it like always and it's going to be fine like always.” His voice was definitely shaking. “This is going to hurt but as soon as we get back to the lair I’ll fix it so you're just going to have to bear with me a bit.”

Oh, there was something in Donnie's eyes. If Leo didn't know better he would call it emotion. If he didn't know Donnie he might call it guilt. Was this about the bracelet? Or leaving Leo alone at the lair? Maybe they had just come to tell him he had to leave and then saw him like this and felt too bad to say anything.

Or maybe...

“Thanks Donnie.” 

Donnie stopped for a moment.

“Don’t thank me. Just start getting ready for Raphs interrogation later.” Donnie pushed Leo's hands against the wound before getting out some bandages.

“But I'm injured,” Leo whined, trying to ignore the pain erupting in his leg, “He can't interrogate me while I’m injured.”

Donnie looked at him. “Hey, if you think that will stop him that's on you..” Good. He was shaking less. That was good

The fight was still going on in the background, but it felt far away. Separate somehow. Leo watched it like it didn’t affect him. It didn’t feel like anything did. Mikey was occupied with two of the paper ninjas. Raph was beating back the foot lieutenant. It was so easy for them. They were doing just fine without him.

“Why did you come.” Leo didn’t strictly mean to say it out loud, but he did, and judging by Donnie's expression there were no takebacks.

Donnie paused. Another deep breath. “That's going in the interrogation.”

Well, he was already in the pit; might as well dig to China. “I’m serious Donnie.” 

“I… I know.”

“So tell me.”

The bandage tightened. Leo choked back a scream as his vision coated white. Don't think about the pain don't think about the pain don't think about the-

“Do you want the reasons in alphabetical order or order of importance?”

“S- surprise me.”

Bang.

It was a second. One moment. Leo just saw the thief- the man(?) aiming at him- Mikey too occupied to kick the gun away. Donnie was trying to turn around but he was right in the way of the shot and he had to move. Leo reached out more on instinct than consciousness. Something primal. A desperation that bled into his bones. A feeling that something just had to happen.

And then everything happened at once.

The world started to tingle and the pain was inconsequential as he pushed Donnie to the side. A portal appeared in front of the bullet and it was gone. Not gone, but not there. Leo appeared in front of the man, kicking away the gun. Another portal and the bullet was in the man's chest. Another punch and he was out cold. Mikey was a ball of fire. Raph was rushing over.

And the pain was back. Leo could feel his legs giving out under him. It hurt to stand. Why did Raph look so panicked? And sideways? Oh…

Ah. In lighter news, the ground was nice and cold.

The same could not be said about the medbay. It was warm and stuffy and all together not what Leo was looking forward to when he woke up. He was trying to shove off the blankets even before he came into full awareness. He was stopped by something. A bed frame? The ground didn’t have that. Neither did his bed. He couldn’t move his leg either.

Perhaps he opened his eyes a little more slowly than he should’ve when he realized that fact. It didn't take Leo particularly long to figure out where he was after that. The stink of home combined with the not totally messy room was a give away (Donnie and Raph insisted on keeping the medbay clean at all costs). He could feel his leg. That was good. He just couldn’t move it out of whatever suspension had been set up for it.

Donnie was sitting beside him, distracted by something on his phone. The tapping of his feet was getting annoying. Tap tap tap.

“Donnie.” Leo's voice was sandpaper. Donnie jumped. “K- knock that off. You're giving me a headache.”

Donnie did stop, looking away from his phone. “You’re awake.”

“Nope. Just a very active sleeper.” Of course he was awake. Donnie looked unimpressed. He clearly didn’t appreciate how hard it was to think of jokes right after waking up.

“You’re an active sleeper Leon? Is that why you haven’t slept in days?”

Leo froze. “H-how do you-”

“It is quite simple my dear brother. Your blood pressure is skyrocketing, your immune system is weak, and it's in bold letters on my monitor.”

“That…” that was hard to deny. Luckly, Donnie didn’t give him time to even try to justify himself.

“You- my dear brother- are lucky you didn’t collapse on patrol. If you had informed me I wouldn’t have-” Donnie stopped. His hands were shaking again.

Leo sunk back in his bed a bit. Wait. He bristled up. Why was he feeling guilty? “Stop it Donnie. It's not like a couple of bad nights are new to any of us. ”

“Not for a full week Leon!”

“Why do you even care!” Leo wasn’t fully in control of the indignation swirling in his stomach. He didn't want to be

“You’re my brother! Why shouldn’t I care!”

“And what's that ever gotten you...” Leo mumbled.

Donnie stopped. “What did you say?”

Wow, he really was digging this pit all the way to China today. “I said what has being my brother-” he interrupted himself with a cough. Then another. Then another. Then another until he was halfway through all his reserve air and could already feel another coughing fit coming on.

Donnie seemed to come to his senses at that. “Oh- oh right water. Your probably-” Donnie looked lost again. Only for a moment.

One of donnies mechanical arms reached out of his battle shell, searching around the bedside table as Donnie turned to the wound on Leo's leg. Blood had started to seep through. Had he jostled it or something? Donnie didn’t seem too worried so it was probably fine.

Probably.

Donnie turned away to look for some new bandages before Leo could tell if there was a glimmer of real worry in his eyes. In Leo's defence it was hard to read Donnie's inner thoughts when he was displaying so much emotion. It was really weird.

Donnie's mechanical leg was not any closer to finding water. It was roaming over the table, occasionally knocking off some books in a bid for water that- as far as Leo could tell- was not there.

“Donnie-” another cough- “water?”

“Yeah yeah I’m getting it.” Donnie turned away from him, tuting and retracting his metal arm. “MIKEY! CAN YOU BRING SOME WATER UP HERE!”

“Donnie don’t yell so loud.” Leo felt like his head was splitting. Another cough. Donnie flinched at that.

Okay this was just weird. Donnie? Acting all guilty?

“Is this about the bracelet?” Donnie stilled. Yes then. “Don't worry about it Dee- it was an accident (probably). It's fine.” He coughed again. That really wasn’t making his point. “Better me than Mikey or Raph right? Mikey probably wouldn’t let you in the kitchen for a month- and art projects are definitely off the table. And Raph would-”

“No, it's not.” Donnie shook his head. “It's not better.”

“...It was a joke Don.”

“No it wasn’t.” Donnie sighed, checking over his elevated leg. “Your jokes are bad and obnoxious and wholly unfunny.”

“Hey!”

“THAT was not a joke. Whatever you want to call that, it wasn't a joke.”

“I think I know when I’m making a joke Dee.” Talking was really not doing him any favors. His throat felt absolutely shredded.

“One would think.”

Leo let it drop, leaning back on the bed. Everything he said seemed to be working against him anyway. Might as well stay quiet.

Mikey slid into the room soon enough, kicking up dust as he turned the corner. “Here’s the water-” He stopped when he saw Leo awake. Awake. Leo. Mikey almost spilled the water. “DEE! WHY didn’t you tell us he was awake!”

“Not so loud.” Leo hissed.

“Sorry Leo.”

Mikey handed him the water sheepishly, gave him time to take one sip, and was immediately on the bed with him wrapping him in a bear hug. Leo did his best not to spill the remaining water.

“You had us worried sick!”

Ow. That was not comfortable. “Injured Mikey. Injured!”

Mikey pulled back, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry Leo.”

“And this is why I didn’t tell you.” Donnie added, not looking up.

Mikey stuck his tongue out at Donnie, pulling a chair up to Leos bedside.

“Though if you're already here can you go get Raph? It's time for a…” Donnie sighed. “A family chat.”

Oh. That was going to be fun.

Mikey practically had stars in his eyes. “You're initiating a chat! Omigosh it's a dream come true!”

“I do hate to break this to you Mikey.” Mikey was already hugging him. Donnie sighed, not returning the hug. “It is not about me.”

He wasn’t listening. “I’ll bring Dr. Feelings too! And we can have a big emotional-”

Leo coughed, interrupting. “I thought you were Dr. Delicate Touch. Why-”

“Dr. Delicate Touch has no feelings.” Mikey and Donnie spoke at the same time. There was... trauma in Donnie's eyes?

“Yeahhhh no need to get Dr. Feelings in on this one bud.” Donnie (somehow) slid out of Mikey's hold, patting him on the head. “Can you please just get Raph?” Donnie thought for a moment. “Quietly. And no telling him I called the meeting. I don't need him to help a certain someone with another exorcism.”

“It'll work one of these days,” Leo mumbled. Donnie glared at him.

“Just get him up here and tell him Leo has something he needs to talk about.”

“Oh don't worry Dee. Michelangelo's got this.” Mikey gave a smirk. Maybe it was genetic. It was the same smirk Donnie got when something was about to go horribly wrong- oh no. “I’m Dr. Delicate Touch.” Mike pranced over to the door and took a deep breath. “RAPH! LEOS DYING!”

“MIKEY.”

“What?” Mikey had the nerve not to look guilty at all.

There was a distant crash. Multiple, distant crashes. Raph was in the room before Donnie had time to run over to Mikey and start strangling him. That was probably a good thing.

Raph was already at Leos bedside, clutching his hand as he stared into his eyes.

“Tell me you’ll pull through bud! This can't be it! You have such a brilliant life ahead of you!” He was crying. And crushing Leo's hand. “You can’t just-”

This was ridiculous. “I'm not dying Raph.”

Raph looked unconvinced. Still crying. Still crushing Leos hand. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

Raph took a deep breath, letting go of Leo’s (probably fractured) hand.

Donnie cleared his throat. “Ignoring... that- we have something to talk about.”

Raph looked up. “We do?”

“Is it the funeral arrangements?” No-one stopped Donnie from slugging Mikey in the shoulder, but Raph looked like he was considering it. He was too busy holding Leos (probably fractured) hand in a death grip again.

“No. Leo’s not dying. Just stupid.”

“Ok soo… why does that need a meeting?” Raph asked, dropping Leo's hand again. Leo let his head fall with it. Of course he was stupid. That was just another reason he shouldn’t be-

“It doesn’t,” Leo answered. It wasn’t the time to think about that. It was never the time.

Donnie sighed, poking at his monitor again. One of his metal arms reached out of his shell and then-

“ ‘-he can't interrogate me while I’m injured.’

‘Hey, if you think that will stop him, that's on you.’ “

There were muffled sounds of fighting in the background. Or maybe that was just Leo's brain. The next words were not something that was supposed to come back. They weren't. They were supposed to be spoken once and forgotten forever. That’s what was supposed to happen.

“ ‘Why did you come.’ “

Had he sounded that... empty? That…. like…. like he hadn’t wanted them to come at all? He had wanted them to come- he really had… right? Just because it would’ve been better if they didn’t didn’t mean he didn't hope they would come. Not that you could tell from his voice. No, you really couldn’t.

Clearly his brothers couldn’t tell. They were all quiet, Raph and Mikey staring at him like he had just slapped Jupiter Jim. Donnie was looking at him too. Lost. Unsure. There was too much emotion for it to be Donnie. There was just… too much.

“I record everything, Leo.”

Donnie was making eye contact. Leo had known that. He had known that. So why did the words feel like a punch to the gut?

“Yeah… you do.” The words sounded dry, even to him. But what else could he say?

There was only silence. It felt wrong in the house. The house was supposed to be loud. Leo hated silence. He wasn’t supposed to hear himself breathing. Why was that all he could focus on?

Donnie had gotten a new glass of water at some point, offering it to him with the awkward grace of someone who had no idea what they were doing. Leo took it with a small smile. That was the emotionally stunted genius he knew.

“What… why would you...” Raph started, looking slightly lost.

Leo let that remain unanswered, curling in on himself a little more

“God you all are hopeless.” Donnie sighed. “Lucky for you all I’m here to facilitate emotional discussions. Now Leon, did you or did you not ask why we would come to get you.”

“It’s not a trial Donnie.” Raph protested.

“No. It’s an interrogation.”

“It's too much to hope we can just drop it, right?” Leo interrupted, curling his one mobile leg closer to his body.

“Yes.” Mikey, Raph, and Donnie spoke at once. Yeah he figured.

Leo grimaced. “Yes, I said that.”

“Why?” Raph asked, pulling a chair up to Leo’s bedside.

“I just… well I didn’t think you guys would find me.” Or that they would look really. But maybe he shouldn’t say that part.

Donnie looked wholly unconvinced, but both Mikey and Raph seemed to buy it well enough. That was fine. He could have a separate chat with Donnie later.

“Aw Leo! You know we're always gonna find you! We’re family.” Mikey started. “Thats just what we do!”

Raph nodded too, all too eager to comfort. “Yeah. We’re your brothers! We wouldn’t just leave ya out in the cold. Not now, not never!”

“That's a double negative.”

“Come on Donnie, you know what I mean.”

Donnie shifted away, looking at the ground. He sighed. Another one of his mechanical arms popped out of his battle shell and-

“ ‘You’re my brother! Why shouldn’t I care!’

‘And what's that ever gotten you.’ “

Donnie looked over at Leo, way too smug. Donnie's hands were shaking again, but not his voice. “Wanna take two on that one my dear brothereno.”

Ah. Favorite twin right there. Leo definitely didn’t want to punch him and his stupid tech through the wall at the moment. Definitely. 

The warmth in Raph and Mikey's eyes deflated. Leo didn’t want to see the emotion that replaced it. He looked down instead.

Leo did not like that at all. He laughed nervously. Make it funny, funny man. “Well that's a funny story…”

“Leo.”

“What? It's how I cope.” Leo smiled his signature dumbass grin, hoping it could just convince them to drop it.

“Raph,” Donnie started, “will you get mad if I hit him?

“Yes.”

“How mad.”

“Donatello.” Raph turned away from Leo. “Not the time.”

Oh. That mad.

Donnie shut up, though Leo was pretty sure that glare ment he was gonna be locked out of his phone for a bit.

“Leo…” Mikey spoke, drawing his attention. “You don’t really feel like that, do you?”

Mikey had that expression on his face. Close to the one he got when he didn’t have just the right color for a painting but flipped on its head.

Leo opened his mouth to lie somehow. There was no need to burden his brothers with what was really going on. Maybe he could blame Donnie's editing software. Sure there would be shell to pay later, but that was preferable to the expression on Mikey's face.

The words stilled in his throat.

“You do so much!” Mikey implored. “Who let me paint his shell a week ago? Who always gets Donnie out of his lab? Who portrayed us to the arcade two days ago? Who put money in the swear jar for me last night! That was all you!”

Raph’s shell would have been bigger, and Leo knew he would have volunteered. Donnie always leaves his lab after 3 days, with or without intervention. The arcade is only an hour walk. And the only difference between that arcade and the on at home was, to quote Mikey, ‘the experience’. And Mikey had only sworn because Leo taught the word to him in the first place. If he hadn't been there...

“Yeah-” Raph joined in- “You do so much for all of us. I mean… for starters, where would we be without your one-liners?”

Better off.

“And you're the leader now. What would we do if our glorious leader wasn’t guiding us? I’d give it ten minutes before we’re shell down in a ditch.”

Doubtful.

“Hate to break it to you but that was going to be my first act as leader.” Leo deadpanned, stretching out his curled up posture in some attempt to seem relaxed. “Get us all stuck in a ditch.”

“I was under the impression your first act was to change the name.” Donnie cut in.

“We’re still workshopping that.”

Mikey raised a hand. “Wait… Leo is that what you think is going to happen? Is that what this is about?”

“What…”

“That you're going to lead us-”

“No Mikey.” He could picture it. The shredder looming over them as he watched helplessly. On his back. Watched. Blood. Oh, so much blood. Leo blinked. “It was a joke.”

Mikey stared at him for a second. Not at him. It felt more like he was looking through him. Or maybe passed him. Just not at him. “... I think this is a job for Dr. Feelings.”

“I thought Donnie said-”

“Dee thought we needed some family time, but clearly that's not the only problem.”

“Wait…” Raph whispered. “Dr. Feelings? I thought you were…”

“Dr. Delicate touch has no feelings.” Donnie, Mikey, and Leo said at once. Yup. Definitely trama in Donnie's eyes.

“Now, Leo-” Mikey spoke, pulling a pair of glasses and a turtleneck sweater out of his shell. “How does being a leader make you feel?”

“This is ridiculous Mikey. It was just a joke.”

“Jokes have a tendency to reflect what people are actually thinking.” (Mikey) Dr. Feelings countered. “And clearly you're thinking something so we might as well start there. So Leon, how does being a leader make you feel?”

Leo opened his mouth. Closed it. What was the right answer? He could say he was fine with it, but would that piss of Raph? He couldn’t say nothing or Donnie and Mikey would be on his shell for the rest of the day.

Leo sighed. Might as well say what they were all thinking. “I’m not really the leader, so the question is irrelevant.”

Mikey looked at him confused.

“What are you talking about Leo.” Raph asked. “Dad said that you were the leader now. You’re the leader”

“Well then, my first act as leader is to make Raph leader again. He’s the one that should be in charge.”

Raph seemed taken aback for a second. “Leo. No. I was…” Raph took a deep breath. “I… I was never that good of a leader.”

“No you were.” Raph was lying. There was no way he thought that. “You always had everyone's back. You put other people's needs in front of your own and you always get everyone out of trouble. Thats not me. I… I don't do that.”

“I’m your older brother. It's my job to look after all of you.”

“Exactly. So you should be leader.”

“No. No Leo.” Raph shook his head. “That's not- Donnie help me out here. Tell Leo he's full of it.”

Donnie cleared his throat. “In my personal (and correct) option. Papa’s decision to make Leo leader was rushed, and possibly misinformed.”

“Donatello-”

“BUT-” Donnie looked at Raph before turning his attention to Leo- ”I do think that Leon has the potential to be an effective leader. Even more effective than Raph.”

“Dee you don’t have to lie.” Leo smiled. Well, not smiled. It was more like he grimaced while trying to mimic a smile. “I appreciate the sentiment but...”

Donnie raised an eyebrow. “I’m not lying. I'm sure I’m not the only person that has noticed the repeated failures and haphazard nature of many of Raph’s plans.”

“That’s not fair. He always comes through when it counts-”

“Even I knew that my plans weren’t always up to par Leo.” Raph smiled. “And we both know you're better at motivational speeches.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. I never look out for you guys and I’m always-”

“But you do!” Mikey interrupted, “Who always gets Don out of his lab? Who offers to go topside when I’m missing ingredients?”

“That's all just… It's not the same.”

“Of course it's different. Raph is our older brother. That doesn't mean that you won’t be a good leader. You just… won't be Raph.”

Of course he wasn’t Raph. That was so obvious it had no right to relive the anxiety in his chest.

“Unless… Do you not want to be a leader?” Raph asked. “If you don't want to be leader I can try to talk pops out of it. It might take some bargaining but…”

“... No. I want to be the leader.” Leo started slowly. “I just… I’m not…” He looked at Raph. “You.”

“Of course you’re not. We already have a Raph on the team. We don’t need two.” Raph spoke.

“But…” Leo stopped again. “I just… I'm not someone who plans like that. I don't have…” God what were the words. Were the words for the absolute wrongness that accompanied the thought of him being leader?

“Yes you do.” Mikey placed his hand on top of Leos. “Or you will. If you didn’t have what you needed, pops wouldn’t have put you in charge.”

Leo looked down at his hands for a moment.

“And you guys are okay with that?”

“With you being the leader? Of course we are.” Mikey affirmed, Raph and Donnie nodding along behind him. “Why did you think we wouldn’t be?”

“Well I… you left me behind in the lair and then I got the shock I kind of assumed…” Shell it just sounded childish.

Both Raph and Mikey turned to Donnie. If the look in his eyes was anything to go by, the glares were pretty intense. Donnie, for his part, was almost shrunk inside of his shell, and gripping his arm.

“All things considered, that was not my brightest idea…” He started, head peeking out of his shell as he walked forward.

“That’s an understatement,” Raph mumbled.

Donnie kept walking towards Leo, pointedly not looking at Leo's leg. “Well, it wasn’t my smartest move. I can admit that. It was supposed to just give out a harmless shock whenever I used the satellite locator to track you. I had no way of knowing that you were already fighting and really when you think about it-”

“Donnie.” Mikey warned.

“I was going to remove it! Eventually... After you apologized for the pizza incident. I didn’t think- I should have checked the situation...” Donnie's eyes finally fell on Leo's leg, mouth gaping for a second. “I’m sorry.”

Loe stared at his twin for a second. How long had it been since he had apologized for anything? “Careful there Dee. You keep that up and your emotionless bad boy image will collapse.”

“Don’t start Leo.” Donnie looked up from the injured leg. “I’m trying to say that I was wrong. And I am sorry.” Donnie looked to the ground. Just one more push… “And I’ll give you one free tech upgrade of your choice; are you happy?”

“Aw Dee you're the best!” Leo smiled, enveloping Donnie in a hug. It wasn’t a good hug- what with Leo down one leg and all- but a hug nonetheless.

“No fair!” Mikey exclaimed, bouncing in and wrapping both of them in a hug.

“Mikey, he's still injured!” Leo drew in a hiss as Mikey bumped his leg.

“Sorry Leo.” Mikey backed away sheepishly.

“It's fine as long as we don't hit his leg right?” Raph asked, still hesitating at the bedside.

“Yeah.” Donnie affirmed.

Raph slid behind Leo, careful not to bump his leg as he wrapped all three of them in a hug. Mikey had found a way to squeeze both him and Donnie to death without bumping into his leg too much. Donnie had stiffened up like a board, but his arms were still positioned awkwardly on Leo’s shoulders. Sort of like a hug. Sort of like he was a robot. Sort of like he was afraid of hurting him again.

“Just out of curiosity- when is Sir Pizza’s funeral,” Leo asked, dissipating the silence again. It didn’t feel wrong in the house per say, but maybe not ideal.

“Sir Pizzaton’s funeral is this afternoon. I already made the gravestone.”

“ Am I invited? I mean... I am the murderer.”

“I don’t know,” Mikey responded, looking at Donnie. “You’d have to ask his widow.”

“Why am I the widow?”

“Well, you did kiss him Dee.”

“Only because Leo shoved him in my face!”

“Then you can probably come Leo. You introduced the couple after all.”

Raph tightened his hug, and Leo wasn’t completely sure if it was because he loved them or he wanted to stop Donnie from murdering them.

Probably both.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!!


End file.
